When Clarissa kidnaps the younger children of King Henry and Queen Catherine, Mary and Bash work with the Queen to find them, with tragic results. Meanwhile, when Lola attempts to help her brother with a debt he owes, Francis rescues her, causing the two of them to grow closer.

Tirdad Derakhshani

Mary McNamara

With an attitude far more 16th century than anything in the actual show, the CW assumes its (mostly female) viewers are either too stupid or too narcissistic to appreciate the actual drama of a young queen in a foreign court. So instead Reign offers yet another sexed-up version of high school.

Brian Lowry

All told, the series--handsomely shot in Ireland--represents what amounts to a sleight-of-hand act--an attempt by CW to look like it’s trying something different while really just churning out more of the same, albeit with more splendid settings and ornate costumes.

Sarah Rodman

With its grand castle backdrop and sumptuous costumes, Reign looks beautiful, as do all of the people in it. But there needs to be something a little more substantial--be it drama or kitsch--between those walls and seams to make Reign into a show worthy of ascending to the heights of guilty pleasure TV royalty.

Ed Bark

Curt Wagner

Reign isn't half bad at times with its marvelous costumes, palace intrigues and Follows' delicious take on Catherine. But the minute you start getting into fantasy, you're yanked right out by the contemporary music and other oddities—like a montage of giggling gals putting on makeup.

Mark A. Perigard

Matt Roush

Even though many will find this brand of overripe melodrama as silly as the indelible "Death of Mary Queen of Scots" sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus, I can't help but root a little for such a zany risk.

Lori Rackl

Rob Owen

History purists who loathe artists taking creative license steer clear, but for viewers who enjoy a good soap, gorgeous costumes/locations and a winning soundtrack, The CW’s Reign delivers an entertaining romp in its premiere outing.

David Wiegand

Todd VanDerWerff

The script by Laurie McCarthy and Stephanie SenGupta never finds a wholly convincing Venn diagram intersection between period piece and teen soap, but it also doesn’t bother trying, hoping it can turn insane tonal shifts into a virtue by stepping on the gas. That this approach mostly works is thanks to their script being unafraid to unleash the crazy and the surprisingly beautiful direction from Brad Silberling, who makes the most of an Irish location shoot the rest of the series won’t have the advantage of.

Vicki Hyman

It is all very campy and salacious (the young ladies are quite overcome after witnessing a bedding, although the resulting masturbation scene was trimmed from the pilot shown to the press), and historical accuracy takes a backseat to hair product and a driving contemporary soundtrack. But the show seems to be a bit aware of its own absurdity, which is more than one can say for some of the dreck the networks have served up so far this season.